The FBI arrested a 45-year-old man after he repeatedly posted threats to assassinate President Donald Trump on social media. He resisted arrest for hours wielding a sword before surrendering. Records show he was previously investigated for threatening to shoot Trump during his first term in office.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of 45-year-old Andrew Emerald from Massachusetts on eight counts of sending threatening messages after he repeatedly posted malicious threats to kill President Donald Trump on Facebook.
According to federal court documents, in 2025 Emerald posted several violent messages. For example, in May 2025 he wrote, "If Trump is not dead and in the grave by 2026, I will be the one to hunt him down and bury him myself." He also threatened to storm and burn down the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and claimed he would wield his trusted sword to go to Washington, D.C., to kill Trump and those he considered domestic terrorists.
When FBI agents served a search and arrest warrant at his residence, Emerald refused to surrender. He appeared at a window brandishing a long steel sword, waving it around and shouting challenges for officers to shoot him.
The tense standoff lasted some time until crisis negotiators and local police persuaded him to disarm and surrender peacefully. A search of his home uncovered numerous swords and sharp weapons he had boasted about in his posts.
Records show that Emerald was previously investigated in 2018 during Trump’s first term on suspicion of threatening to shoot the president.
This arrest took place amid heightened security following an assassination attempt in July 2024 when President Trump was wounded in the ear during a campaign event in Pennsylvania.
If convicted on all eight counts of sending threatening messages, Emerald could face up to five years in prison. Recently, a man from Virginia was sentenced to over two years for similar online threats to kill the president.
/sourceReuters